I have tried to make a little bit of Bible study a part of our fledgeling communities. I’m very intentionally trying to not turn it into just a Bible study and I’m very intentionally making sure that everyone is able to share a bit about what the passage might mean to them. I want it to shape the lives of the members but also let them know they have the ability to interact with the Bible through the Spirit.

What we are trying to develop is a way of reading the Bible in missional communities that democratizes the process, so that anyone can do it. This requires a confidence in the power of the Bible, by giving it room to breathe and shape thoughts and behaviors within our group without us first micromanaging the…

That is what Holy Saturday has taught me about being Christian. Between the great dramas of life, there is almost always a time of empty waiting — with nothing to do and no church service to help — a time when it is necessary to come up with your own words and see how they sound with no other sounds to cover them up. If you are willing to rest in this Sabbath, where you cannot see your hand in front of your face and none of your self-protective labors can do you one bit of good, then you may come as close to the Christ as you will ever get — there in that quiet cave where you wait to see how the Maker of All Life will choose to come to you in the dark.

(RNS) A new report by the Equal Justice Initiative documents in horrific detail the nation’s widespread practice of lynching and points to a link between lynching and a practice that persists today: capital punishment.

In the Jim Crow South, lynching declined as officials turned to executions as an alternative method for killing blacks in disproportionate numbers.

This report challenges us to confront our nation’s legacy of racial violence. Sadly, too many Christians were complicit in this violence, which has prompted Christian denominations to apologize and emphasize racial reconciliation.